Cylindrical flying ship



June 19, 1934. PANDOLFI ,7

CYLINDRIGAL FLYING SHIP Filed Ndv. 29, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 19,1934. L, PANDOLFI 1,963,715

CYLINDRICAL FLYING SHIP FiledNov. 29, 1952 '2 sheets-sheet 2" PatentedJune 19, 1934 cruNDarcAL rmrmq smr Luigi Pandolfl, New York, N. .Y.,assignor of onethird to Francesco Pandolfi, New York, N. Y.

- Application November 29,1932, Serial No. 644,896

' Glaims. ((1244-18) 'lhis invention relates to a cylindrical flyingship and has for an object to provide an improved air ship withimprovedsafety features. A further object of this invention is to pro- I vide animproved air ship having a plurality of propellers and a plurality ofmotors, all of which are so interconnected that all the propellers willkeep operating providing at least one of the motors continues tofunction.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved air shiphaving a cylinder or 'tube extending therethrough and having one of thepropellers forcing a constant stream of air through said cylinder ortube.

Still a further object of this invention is to providean improvedairship having an increased carrying capacity both for passengers andfor fuel.

Still a further object of this invention is 'to .20 provide an improvedair ship having tail landing wheels which are provided with ruddersurfaces, which rudder surfaces are connected to the rudder. of the shipso as to act simultaneously thererudder operwith whereby the operationof the as the rear .25 ates the rudder surfaces as well wheels. I

Yet an additional object of this invention is to provide an improved airship having a cylinder or tube extending .30 ing a longitudinalcontrolling fin extending through said cylinder or tube.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide an improved airship having a tube provided with a plurality of rigid fins extending 1'through said tube to prevent the air stream from rotating through saidtu Still a further object of this provide a cylinder or tube whose endsor mouth is always open so as to freely permit the force of the airpassing there'through. g

Still an additional object of this invention is to provide an air shiphaving the main rudder and the elevator operating in the stream passingthrough the tube.

Still a further object 'ofthis invention is to provide an air shiphaving a; pair of stub wings having a somewhat pointed leading edge andhaving the propeller shaft projecting through the apex of said leadingedge with the blades 5b bent backwardlyat an angle corresponding to theangle of the leading edge.

A further object of this invention isto' pro- .vlde an improved air shiphaving a cylindrical tube extending. therethrough and a propeller opl6crating forwardly and centrally of. said tube,

therethrough and havinvention is to the tips of the propeller bladesbeing bent backwardly toward the tube and out of the plane at rightangles to the propeller shaft.

Yet an additional object of this invention is to provide an improved airship having the above 00 objects, which air ship is preferably of theheavier than air variety, but which may obviously also be of the lighterthan air variety.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, as will hereinafter becomeapparent, this 'invention comprises the constructions, combinations andarrangements ofparts, hereinafter set forth, disclosed and shown on theaccompanying drawings. In the drawings, Figure 1 is-a' side elevation ofthe air ship, Figure2 is a top plan view of the air ship showing threepropellers operated by two motors, Figure 3 is a front view of the airship showing clearly the arrangement of the propellers and center hollowtube,

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the rear controls of the air ship, IFigure 5 is an enlarged elevational view of the rear wheels and lowerportion of the rudder showing the said wheels connected to the rudder bymeans of a tie rod,

Figure 6 is an elevational view of the top portion of the hollow tubeshowing a controlling fin therein,

Figure '1 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-! of Figure 4,

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the three propellers operated bytwo motors,

Figure 9 is a front elevation of one of the propellers,

Figure 10 is a side elevation of the same, and Figure 11 is a'sectionalview-taken on line 11-11 of Figure 8 showing meanspermitting the centershaft to revolve when either motor is dead, whereby the other. motor maystill operate the propellers.- v

There is shown at 15 the air ship constituting this invention. This airship does not have a fuselage in the conventional sense of the term, butinstead is provided with a pair ofcabins 16 separated from and securedto each other through the medium of a cylinder or tube 1'1.

As will be observed, the cylinder 1'1 is provided with a 'mouth as at 18being at the entrance end of the tube, while the cabins merge as 106 at19 toward the front tip of the cylinder.

As will be observed in Figure 1, the bottoms 20 of the cabins 16 provideair supporting surfaces. Depending from the bottoms 20 of the cabins area pair. of front landin wheels 21 conventionally shown, which may be ofthe usual shock absorbing construction. A pair of rear wheels 22 arealso provided, the wheels 22 being mounted on the bifurcated lower ends23 of rudder surfaces 24, which are hinged as at 25 to vertical fixedmembers 26 depending from the rear of the bottom of the cabins adjacenteach side of the cylinder 17.

The rudder surfaces 24 are connected to each other and to a main rudder27 by means of connecting rod 28 provided with universal joints 29permitting simultaneous action. The rudder 27 it will be observed ishinged at 28 to the stabilizer 26 placed in the rear end of the cylinderor tube 17. As will be obvious operation of the rudder 27 in theconventional manner also serves to simultaneously steer the ruddersurfaces 24 and the rear Wheels 22 thus providing additional control inthe air as well as positive control on the ground. Similarly, theelevator 30 is hinged as at 31 to a stabilizer 32, which stabilizer 32it will be observed extends horizontally across the rear of the cylinderor tube 17.

Stub wings 33 are provided on each side of the cabin 16, the leadingedge of the stub wings 33 being somewhat V-shaped as at 34. A propellershaft 35 is mounted to project through the apex of the V leading edge 34and a propeller 36 is mounted on this shaft.

As will be observed, particularly from Figures 9 and 10, the blades 37of the propeller 36 are bent backwardly as at 38 causing the ends 39 ofthe blade to be closer to the leading edge 34 than they would if theconventional blade were used. The propellers 36 used on the stub wings33 are preferably two-bladed affairs, but a fourbladed propeller 40 ispreferably provided for the cylinder or tube 17. The edges 41 of theblades .42 of propeller 40 are bent backward in a similar manner to thatof the other propeller, thereby tending to draw more air into the mouth18 of the cylinder 17 and thus increase the efficiency. It will be notedthat the propeller 40 is so bent and constructed as to produce an airstream of the same diameter as that of cylinder 17. The shaft 43 of thepropeller 40 extends into the tube or cylinder 17 where it is jointed asby bevel gears 44 to a transverse shaft 45. The shafts 35 of propeller36 are similarly connected to the said transverse shaft 45 by means ofthe bevel gears 46. A plurality of motors 47 are mounted along the shaft45, in this instance two motors being shown, although it will be obviousthat a greater number may be provided. Each of these motors is soconnected to the shaft 45 that the operation of the motor will causerotation-of the shaft, but that the failure of the motor to operate willnot cause the shaft to stop. This is schematically shown in Figure 11,wherein the shaft 45 LS provided with a collar 48 having a plurality ofrecesses in its periphery as at 49 into which hinged pawls may projectfrom the motor fly wheel 50 of the motor 47. With this construction orany equivalent construction, the motors 47 may operate independently ofeach other causing the power to flow through the shaft 45 to each of thethree propellers, while the failure of any one motor of the plurality ofmotors provided will not interfere with the rotation of all the threepropellers so long as one or more of the remaining motors continues tooperate.

To assist in maintaining the airship on an even keel the cylinder-tube17 is provided with a plurality of rigid internal fins 51 about theinternal periphery thereof and a flexible controllable fin 52 which iscontrolled by the pilot in the same manner as the rudder and elevators.The rigid fins 51 tend to keep the air ship flying along at the desiredangle of stability, but in case of a side flip the flexible control 52enables the pilot to bring the ship back to the horizontal position.

The cabins 16 are each provided with a plurality of windows 53 on thefront, side and back thereof, .and a door 54 with window 54a on theouter side thereof. A trap door 55 is provided in the top of each cabin16 and a guide rail 56 leads from one trap door to the other over thetop of the tube or cylinder 17 enabling the pilot and mechanics to gofrom one cabin to the other while in flight or to secure access to themotors outside of the cabins for adjustments if necessary.

As will be obvious, this guide rail 56 may also act as a fixed aerialfor the conventional radio on board the ship. In addition to the usualfuel compartments that may be provided or in lieu thereof the space inthe cabin 16 closely adjacent the bottom and top of the tube 17 shown at57 and 58 may be used for fuel tanks as well as luggage or freightcompartments.

The novel features and the operation of this device will be apparentfrom the foregoing description. While the device has been shown and thestructure described in detail, it is obvious that this is not to beconsidered limited to the exact form disclosed, and that changes may bemade therein within the scope of what is claimed without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. 7

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of thisinvention, what isclaimed is:

1. An air ship comprising a pair of cabins, a

cylindrical tube uniting said cabins into a fuselage, a stabilizing stubwing projecting from opposite sides of the pair of cabins, and aplurality of stabilizing fins extending longitudinally the full lengthof said cylindrical tube.

2. An air ship comprising a pair of cabins, a

cylindrical tubeuniting said cabins into a fuselage, a stabilizing stubwing projecting from opposite sides of the pair of cabins, and a controlfin extending longitudinally the full length of said cylindrical tube.

, 3. An air ship comprising a pair of cabins, a cylindrical tube unitingsaid cabins into a fuselage, and a stabilizing stub wing projecting fromopposite sides of the pair of cabins, the leading edge of each of saidstub wings being V-shaped in' gtop plan view.

4. An air ship comprising a pair of cabins, a cylindrical tube unitingsaid cabins into a fuselage, a stabilizing stub wing projecting fromopposite sides of the pair of cabins, the leading edge of each of saidstub wings being V-shaped in top plan view, a propeller shaft mounted ineachstub wing and projecting through the apex of the V, and a propelleron each propeller shaft, the blades of said propeller being bentbackwardly to more closely approach said leading edge of said V-shapedwing.

5. In an air ship comprising a pair of cabins, a cylindrical tubeuniting said cabins into a fuselage, a mouth on said cylindrical tubeand a stabilizing stub wing projecting from opposite sides of the pairof cabins; a propeller shaft in said cylindrical tube, and a propellerextending beyond said mouth of said cylindrical tube, the tips of thepropeller blades being bent backwardly to more closely approach saidtube mouth and force a greater quantity of air through said tube.

LUIGI PANDOLFI.

